1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a system, method and computer readable medium having a computer program stored thereon for dynamic control and optimization of a process or a series of processes.
2. Background Art
An objective in industrial plants is to minimize losses that are inherent in the processes being performed therein, while maximizing profits at the same time. This loss minimization/profit maximization is achieved by the technique of linear programming optimization, which is commonly referred to as LP optimization. Optimization is normally repeated at predetermined intervals so that the profit derivable from the process can be increased by shifting a single unit under control from one operating point to another. Generally, profit can be increased by pushing the operation parameters as close as possible to system constraints, such as temperature, pressure or flow constraints. How close one can approach these constraints becomes a measure of the efficiency of the process control being utilized. Efficiency of the controller in moving from one operating point to another also becomes important. Assuming that LP operating points lie close to, or actually on, system constraints, the controller is desirably able to move from one point to another without violating system constraints. As the controller's ability to adequately perform these tasks decreases, the operating points must retreat from the LP dictated operating points, which thereby causes profit loss. Proper control and optimization of as many constraints as possible allows a user to minimize profit loss.
Linear programming is a mathematical technique that is used to optimize multivariate, bounded linear optimization problems. Linear programming is used in automated processes such as oil refining to identify a profitable or cost-saving operating strategy. The “programming” in LP actually means “planning”. In the context of an oil refinery process, for example, the implementation of linear programming involves the development of an integrated LP model representing the refinery operations with all constraints and flexibilities and then solving the LP problem to determine the optimum strategy.
Multivariable constraint control is a technique that is used to control multivariate continuous processes (e.g., refining or oil well production). Linear programming is used to find the optimum point of a multivariate constrained linear problem. The optimum point is that which maximizes (or minimizes) the value of an objective function, where the objective function is the sum of the manipulated values times their value.